As Joseph Volpe prepares to step down from the helm of the Metropolitan Opera, a glance at this weekend’s gala celebration of his tenure can tell a lot about the state of modern opera. “It’s interesting that Mr. Volpe’s gala, celebrating a nearly 16-year reign that is being bruited as one of the Met’s most illustrious, is focused so firmly on the present… Career development is not a high priority in today’s opera world. What is a priority is finding the latest stars and getting them up in front of the public, in as many places as possible, and in as many attractive roles as possible, regardless of how well suited they happen to be to a particular role.”